Multi Academy Trusts:
The role of the CEO
A presentation for Future Leaders’
Executive Educators programme
Robert Hill Consulting
CEOs have a variety of roles…
Corporate chief executive
Ambassador
Communicator
Business developer
Quality assurer
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Thinker and strategist
Guardian of the
flame
Instructional
leader
Leadership
developer
Orchestrator of
partnership depth
…but operate across a broad spectrum of MATs…
Fledgling MATs with two
or three academies
More established MATs
with 10–20 academies
MAT spectrum
Developing MATs with
five to 10 academies
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Large MATs with 20 or
more academies
…though the size of the average MAT is growing
Number of academies by size of academy grouping
March 2011
July 2015
Nearly two-thirds of the 4,725 academies are now in MATs and there are 517
MATs that have two to five academies, 98 with 6 to 15 and 19 with 16 or more
Source: DfE
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So, the focus of the session will be to:
• Examine each of the CEO roles in
more detail
• Consider a number of variables that
influence the exercise of CEO roles
• Work in groups on applying this
thinking to our context
• Allow time for personal assessment
and reflection
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Thinker and strategist
Key attributes
Understanding and analysing the political and policy context
Developing with directors and leaders the vision, values and key
aims for the MAT
Translating a vision and aims into a plan of action with agreed
milestones
Managing short term demands in the context of longer term aims
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1
2
3
4
Guardian of the flame
Key attributes
Securing buy-in across the MAT to the vision, values and aims
Identifying key polices and initiatives to help embed
commitment and make the vision and values real
Aligning people and development plans to work towards the
agreed goals
Reviewing progress and impact and refreshing the vision
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1
2
3 4
Maintaining momentum and an improvement
trajectory
Progress
Maturity
Stagnate
or renew?
Growth
Start-up
and learn
Decline
Time
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Instructional leader
Key attributes
1
2
Being a leader of learning and creating a collaborative
learning culture
Understanding the key drivers of school improvement and
being able to describe their application across the MAT
Being able to implement strategies for schools in different
contexts and at different points in their improvement journeys
Determining the tight-loose balance on curriculum content
and approaches to teaching and learning*
*The scope of the tight-loose balance will also apply to other areas – for example,
performance management, ICT and financial reporting systems.
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3
4
Leadership developer
Key attributes
Having a clear distribution of leadership roles and
accountabilities and deployment of senior leadership
expertise
Developing a strong team culture with senior leaders and
fostering a co-construction ethos
Identifying emerging talent and creating systems for
emerging leaders to have leadership assignments across
the MAT
Evolving the organisation’s leadership structures and
succession planning
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1
2
3
4
Orchestrator of partnership depth
Key attributes
Knowing where performance is strong and having systems for
deploying expertise across the MAT
Integrating formal professional development linked to
classroom coaching model(s)
Facilitating middle leaders to lead joint professional
development projects – linked to MAT priorities and an
evaluation/impact model
Encouraging networking opportunities and ways for staff to
learn from and celebrate each other’s efforts
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1
2
3
4
Quality assurer
Key attributes
1
2
3
Having an unremitting focus on improving results and
outcomes
Knowing in real time the quality of teaching and learning and
progress in all academies*
Using benchmarking and peer review within the MAT and
with top performers to spur innovation and improvement
Performance management of other senior leaders
*A good data dashboard system will also embrace metrics on pupil and staff attendance,
behaviour, applications for places, and financial management
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4
Business developer
Key attributes
Developing a strategy for growing the MAT – including the
rate of expansion
Developing a strategy for integrating/procuring support
functions and services – including a prioritised timetable for
realising economies of scale
Develop a five-year financial strategy
Balancing opportunities and risks
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1
2
3
4
Communicator within the MAT
Key attributes
Creating a simple, clear narrative for what the MAT is trying to
achieve
Putting place systems for communicating effectively with
trustees, governors, leaders, staff, parents and pupils
Being able to persuade through vision and modeling
collaborative behaviour
Encouraging and listening to feedback
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1
2
3
4
Ambassador for the MAT
Key attributes
Promoting the MAT’s vision, values and achievements and
explaining the strategy and journey for improvement
Engaging with other MATs, schools and the local community
Negotiating with and influencing government representatives and
other stakeholders
Managing the reputation of the MAT
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1 2 3 4
Corporate executive
Key attributes
Having clear schemes of delegation and reporting
arrangements to local governing bodies and directors
Supporting the development of directors, governors and the
central MAT team
Establishing consistency of policies across academies in the
MATs
Ensuring compliance with statutory and financial
requirements
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1
2
3 4
A CEO’s role will depend on how they distribute
leadership – to other members of a central team
An example
CEO
Chief
Operating
Officer
Director of
Standards
PA
Management
accountant
Key curriculum
specialists*
Business
Manager
Other senior
leaders carrying
out ad hoc roles
Director of
Teaching and
Learning*
Part-time
Marketing
Officer
*Might be linked to
a SLT role in one of
the academies
MAT spectrum
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Central
Business Team
HR and Estates
Managers
*Might be based
in academies
As the MAT develops the CEO role will evolve
CEO
Chief
Operating
Officer
Director of
Standards
Management
accountant
Key curriculum
specialists*
Director of
Teaching and
Learning*
Part-time
Marketing
Officer
Central
Business Team
HR and Estates
Managers
MAT spectrum
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A CEO’s role will depend on how they distribute
leadership – to other leaders
Scale and spans of control in a growing MAT
MAT
Executive
principal
Executive
principal
Senior, middle
leaders &
expert
practitioners
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Executive
principal
Senior, middle
leaders &
expert
practitioners
Executive
principal
Senior, middle
leaders &
expert
practitioners
A CEO’s role will depend on how they distribute
leadership – to other leaders
Some larger MATs also
using Regional Directors
Scale and spans of control in some larger MATs
MAT
Executive
principal
Executive
principal
Executive
principal
Executive
principal
Senior, middle
leaders &
expert
practitioners
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Executive
principal
Executive
principal
Senior, middle
leaders &
expert
practitioners
Executive
principal
Senior, middle
leaders &
expert
practitioners
DfE view of chain and cluster roles
Similar across high
performing sponsors
Strategy Vs operational
level: A general
distinction between
strategic direction exercised at chain leveland more operational
accountability-exercised
at school or hub level.
Hubs led by
educationalists: All the
high performing sponsors
we interviewed had
middle leaders with
educational expertise –
some were known as
‘Exec Principals’ and
others ‘Regional
Directors’.
Different between high
performing sponsors
Chain CEO
Hub director
Head A
Board and local
governance links: It is
common for school
governing bodies to
include representation
from board members.
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Education.
Dir.
CFO
Head B
Hub director
Head C
HR (and
others)
Hub director
Head D
Head E
Autonomy to hubs: one
chains’ hubs are MATs in
their own right, but there are
other examples of highly
devolved decision-making.
In other instances the role
is restricted more narrowly
to school improvement.
Size of ‘hubs’ varies
significantly. At the
extremes were one with 3
schools and another with 15
schools – most others varies
between 4 and 10. Directors
of smaller hubs tend to be
thought of as ‘Exec
Principals’.
Heads reporting lines – whilst
most heads report directly to
the hub director, some still
report to school governing
bodies reflecting differences in
local school governance
arrangements
A CEO’s role will depend on how they distribute
leadership – to complement their own skills
• No one leader has all the skills
• Leadership requires good self
knowledge – whether though 360
degree assessment or Myers Briggs etc
• While CEOs should aspire to develop,
they should also seek to put together
teams that complement them – and
each other
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A CEO’s role might (for a defined period) depend on a
MAT’s history or challenges
A CEO might at a particular stage of a
MAT’s development have to prioritise:
• School improvement
• Governance
• Financial management
• Restructuring the Trust
• Building relations with the community
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But the team should still
ensure that all roles are
covered
Task 1: A group task
Your table will be assigned two of the CEO roles.
Your task will be to draw on your experience and tease out through group
discussion:
• Which aspects of the roles are the same – irrespective of the size or
stage of the development of a MAT
• Provide examples of how exercising the roles is influenced by a MAT’s
context and its stage of development
Time for discussion: 30 minutes
Please capture the key points using the template provided
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Role
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Which aspects of the CEO
role are the same –
irrespective of context
Examples of how the context
of a MAT affects the exercise
of a role
Task 2: A personal task
Consider each of the roles and attributes and assess how confident you
are in your capacity to undertake the role:
1 = Not at all confident
2 = Lacking some confidence
3 = Quite confident
4 = Very confident
Identify the five areas where through the Executive Educators programme
or another means you are looking to develop experience, expertise and
confidence
Time allowed: 15 minutes
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